The Apprentice (A Collection Story)
by TheCollectorsEdition
Summary: Meet Ifrit, a powerful, passionate hero trying to right his wrongs that have completely changed the world. Meet Zamir, a charismatic and youthful sidekick who doesn't think he's a sidekick. Ifrit wants to save the world, and Zamir wants to make a difference. They balance each other out and kick tons of ass until someone new comes and exposes some dark secrets changing their lives f
1. The Confrontation

_**The Confrontation**_

 _ **Read in the Viewpoint of Zamir**_

August 2012

High School

Minooka, IL

"Oh shit! It's Fathead!"

I turned around, and to my surprise he was standing there. Basketball shorts, Nike sandals. It was JT. I mentioned him earlier. This man was my childhood bully. Now mind you, I had gone the entire day meeting people from my childhood who had grown up to be totally different people, but looking at him now he seemed to be the exact same person he was before. I looked at him and said, "I don't go by that anymore. You can call me Christian like everyone else".

"Or I can call you whatever the fuck I wanna call you, Fathead" JT responded.

We stared each other down. You can tell both of our bloods were boiling. Our teacher, Miss Wych started class, so we took our seats. An hour and a half later and at the end of the day, I was still shook up by the confrontation with JT. This man kills me. Class got out, and the second no one was looking, I used my speed to get home. Class got out at 3, and I was home at 3. A 25 minute trip that I happened to make in 22 seconds. I checked my phone and I opened my CNN app. "BREAKING: Blazing Fire at Hotel 7 in Joliet" the headline stated. I raced to the front door, and picked up the package. "This is gonna be so dope". I ripped it open, and there it was. All black bodysuit and a silver helmet. "If i'm gonna be a hero, I gotta protect my identity. Plus, no one is gonna take me seriously without a costume". I put the stuff on. "I've been waiting for this. Let's do this."

I ran through the building as fast as I could, and when I found someone, I threw them out the window. They would all panic at first, but soon they would be caught by a giant cushion outside created by my bracelet. You see, I have these bracelets. They give me extraordinary power. Whatever object I can think of, I can form. All I have to do is think it into creation. Anyways, everyone was safe, and I got the job done in about 2 minutes flat. As the press approached me, I saw an even stronger fire coming from behind me. I turned around and realized that it's not just a fire. This was a person. "Who are you?" I asked the mysterious figure. I looked down at him. He was wearing some old Nike's so I knew this guy had good taste in shoes. His pants were somewhat tore up, somewhat scorched. Either he had some sort of fire powers, or this dude got burnt bad. Here's the scary part. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt, and I could see his dark hands. He was black. I looked closely at what he was using to disguise his face.. It was another shirt. Instead of just buying a mask, he just used another shirt. Interesting.

"No. Who are you? I don't state my identity until someone tells me theirs first. You never know who's watching" he responded.

"You don't know who that is? That's Ifrit! The man on fire!" a nearby reporter yelled.

"Let me get this straight. If I didn't tell him my identity, what the fuck makes you think you have the right to?" Ifrit snapped.

"Woah man. Chill." I said to Ifrit as I put my hands in front of him stopping him. "It's not that big of a deal."

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are touching me. You trying to fight? I don't know who you are and I'm already sick of seeing your face". Ifrit challenged me.

"My name is Zamir for the record. And fine. I'm becoming a protector for these people, and if putting out those flames of yours is what I have to do, it's what I have to do".

"Alright then. Let's do this." Ifrit said shortly before setting himself ablaze once again, while putting an end to the hotel fire with a sweep of his arm.

"Right here?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah. Wait a second". Ifrit said as he snapped his fingers.

I watched as the ground below turned into some type of a liquid, and I fell inside of it. In the blink of an eye, I was standing in the middle of some wooded area. It was cold and getting dark. As I glanced around, I realized I knew exactly where I was. I was in The Woods in Minooka. I know my environment, so at least I'll have that advantage over him. Ifrit soon appeared there in front of me.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"So are we gonna talk? Or do you want to go ahead and let me shove my foot up your ass?" Ifrit challenged.

My eyes turned black and I stared Ifrit deep into his soul. "You have no idea what powers I behold".

Ifrit and I traded blows back and forth. He was obviously stronger than me, but not by a lot. I used my bracelet and began to create various objects to use to my advantage. I started small. My mind wasn't used to working under so much pressure. I threw stones at him. Then, I thought. Duh, bombs. I created bombs and threw them all around Ifrit. It obviously damaged him tremendously.

He smirked. "That's the best you can do? You should try again". Immediately as I threw the bomb, he portaled it next to me. That shit hurt. As I landed on the ground, Ifrit used his fire to fly into the air. I saw how close he was getting to me, and right before he landed on me I sped away.

"Not so fast" he said. He threw a portal right in front of me. It sent me right behind him and he clotheslined me to the ground. I watched as he placed one portal below me and one portal above me and I couldn't stop falling. He placed his hand below the portal, so every time I fell he uppercut me.

I thought quick, and as I fell, I placed a floating mattress below me to catch me. I raced away and thought clearly. I reminded myself to be aware of Ifrit's portals since they were my greatest threat, but when I looked up he was gone. He had portaled behind me. I didn't realize it until he had me in a headlock already. He was choking the life out of me. I felt so weak. . I flew straight into the sky. I threw Ifrit off my back and trapped him in a tight box, so he couldn't portal himself out. I threw him high into the sky, and I crashed down with him breaking the box open. Ifrit flew out obviously taking heavy damage. I sped to him and started releasing all of my frustration on him. He started to bleed. At the sight of the blood, I knew it was time to stop. I took one step up, and Ifrit grabbed my leg, tripped me, portaled himself up, and whacked me in the back of the head. I fell straight into the ground.

"It's all over now. Hell of a fight, but looks like you're taking the L on this one" Ifrit said standing over me.

"You aren't gonna kill me." I responded.

"Nope. I'm going to train you. You need to know how to fight."  
"So it's just like that? You think I'd be your sidekick? I'm not about that!" I said staring Ifrit down. He might have me down, but I'm not giving up.

"Not a sidekick. An apprentice. Plus, what else are you gonna do? Kill yourself?".

Ifrit smirked. As he started to get up, I sensed a presence like none other. I heard a splash of water and watched as Ifrit screamed in agony. "God fucking damn it!"

He tumbled on the ground, and I watched as his back began to bleed. I forced myself to stand up and look. Whatever it was, had feet and arms and hands like a human. It had giant sharp teeth, and claws too. It was blue and you can literally see the water inside of it. "It's a demon".

"How do you know?" I asked Ifrit.  
"I know. Trust me. I've seen these things before. Just run. I got this." Ifrit said to me.  
"I can't run. I'm becoming a protector for these people. Obviously, I'm not the only one with powers. You have them too. God only knows how many people can do extraordinary things. Somethings happened. The world has changed. People can run faster than the speed of light. People can teleport. Someone out there is gonna take those powers and use them for evil, and when they do, I wanna be there to stop them and I can't do that on my own. And neither can you. So Ifrit… Let's get them."

Ifrit looked at me and smirked. We ran at the demon with strength of a rhino. Ifrit slid to the ground burning and knocking down the demon from his feet. I flew up and hit the demon in the face with as much strength as I could.

"Z, you can make things with your mind, right?"

"You betcha!"  
"Make a bed of nails"

"I trust you!" I created a bed of nails at my feet.

"Now stay back. Just trust me."

The demon began to charge at Ifrit, but Ifrit wasn't running away. Instead he was laughing. As soon as the demon went to grab Ifrit, Ifrit placed a portal below him. The demon began to fall from the clouds and he landed on my bed of nails. Blood squirted out of the demon all over my new black suit and all over Ifrit's clothes.

"Well, that was fun". Ifrit fist pounded me.

To be continued...


	2. Training

_**Training**_

 _ **Read in the Viewpoint of Ifrit**_

The Woods

September 2012

After the fight with Zamir, I took him under my wing. He was a great listener, and I could tell he really was doing anything in his power to grow. Immediately after he decided not to kill himself, we portaled to the local Circle K. We walked in bloodied and battered, grabbed some pay as you go phones, and brought them to the register. "Uhh, you guys okay?" the clerk asked.

"And then I was like...hold on. Yeah, how much is it going to be?" I asked the clerk.

"It'll be $45.67...but maybe you should spend that money…" he responded.

"Maybe you should stop talking before I blow this place up", I snapped with my eyes flaring up.

We walked outside and I looked at Zamir. "So I have your number, I'll call you when training is so we can work on controlling your powers better. I'm thinking Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Or something like that".

"Okay cool, is there anything I can…" Zamir attempted to ask before I interrupted him.

"Ifrit. We'll, stick with Ifrit for now and i'll call you Z for short."

"Why do I get a nickname and not you?"

"Z sounds a lot better than I, or If or Rit... Anyways I need to get home and shower. I'll call you soon, Z." I portaled away, luckily landing in my room. I had to throw away my makeshift costume so my mom wouldn't see any blood or smell the char. I hopped in bed reflecting on the battle with Zamir, just looking back at what went down.

"He would of beat me if he had more experience. He has potential to be a great, maybe even a god. Where is the source of his power coming from? I bet it has to do with those bracelets." I passed out.

Tuesday Morning

Roof of the Elementary school

Minooka, IL

I waited for a little bit on top of the school until I saw a blob zoom past me. I knew it was Zamir; he landed.

"There you are! I've been looking…" Zamir attempted to ask before I interrupted him, yet again.

"You're late, and I'm bored. Whatever man come on let's go." I opened a portal. Zamir was reluctant to go in. He eyed the portal up and down.

"So how exactly do you….AHHHHH!" I jumped in after him.

It didn't take long for either of us to arrive to the ground. The area was an endless meadow. The only thing in sight was grass, grass, and more grass. "Ight so first things first. How does your power work?" I asked him.

"Well I have these bracelets-yeah, I have these bracelets and I think they're like an artifact or something." He responded proving that he doesn't know shit.

"So what can you do?"

"Anything!" Zamir started to show off his abilities, he flew at high speeds and manifested energy objects.

"Yeah that's cool and all. but how long can you do it?"

While lifting energy weights, Zamir responded. "Huh?"

"Don't make me- HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP IT UP?" I asked Zamir while growing more and more impatient.

"Well, actually I don't know. I'm still a virgin..."

"OH MY JESUS. I'm talking about the weights! Your energy constructs!" Ifrit facepalms.

"Oh! I have no idea".

"Alright. Create the biggest and heaviest object you can think of ."

Zamir frowned and created a giant size version of his own head.

"How's this, Ifrit?"

"Haha, that's good. But for real though. Maintain that." I said laughing, but very serious.

"For how long?" Zamir asked nervously.

"Until you can't. Now if you'll excuse me, i'm off to meditate." I walked off not looking back. I found a small patch of grass to plop down onto. I crossed my legs and started to concentrate. I could feel the area around me getting hotter. I could faintly smell the grass burning. I continued to control the small blaze so it wouldn't burn the blade of grass. There was sudden gust of wind and then "WOOSH". I got up and walked over to Zamir, he was passed out on the ground.

I hovered over him "Hey, hey come on. Wake up" I said while kicking him. Zamir woke up. I approached him. "I don't think you even lasted 3 minutes. But we'll work on that."

From that point on, Zamir and I were training relentlessly. His constructs grew with time and so did his skill.

At one month, he made a generic fist.

At two months, he added brass knuckles to that fist.

At three, he could use concentrated energy over certain parts of his body.

At four, he easily was able to maintain a construct armor.

Zamir was growing. And he was growing fast.

Few months later…

"Zamir, i've been training you for a few months now and I think you're ready to take on just about any problem. Shit, you could probably beat me."

"Really? You think i'm that strong?" Zamir bracelets pulse for a second.

"Let me tell you that the only limitation is your mind." I said while walking away "Ight now I gotta tell you something.."

"What?"  
"I know where they live now."  
"Who?"  
"The demons…"

To be continued...


End file.
